Generally, the widely-used peripheral input device of a computer system includes for example a mouse device, a keyboard device, a trackball device, or the like. Via the keyboard device, characters and symbols can be inputted into the computer system directly. As a consequence, most users and most manufacturers of input devices pay much attention to the development of keyboard devices.
FIG. 1 is a schematic top view illustrating the outer appearance of a conventional keyboard device. As shown in FIG. 1, there are plural keys 10 on a surface of the conventional keyboard device 1. These keys 10 are classified into several types, e.g. ordinary keys 101, numeric keys 102 and function keys 103. When one of these keys 10 is depressed by the user's finger, a corresponding signal is issued to the computer, and thus the computer executes a function corresponding to the depressed key. For example, when an ordinary key 101 is depressed, a corresponding English letter or symbol is inputted into the computer. When a numeric key 102 is depressed, a corresponding number is inputted into the computer. In addition, the function keys 103 (F1˜F12) can be programmed to provide various functions. For example, the conventional keyboard device 1 is a keyboard device for a notebook computer.
With the maturity of the computing technologies, the keyboard manufacturers make efforts in designing novel keyboard devices with special functions in order to meet diversified requirements of different users. For this reason, a luminous keyboard device has been introduced into the market. The outer appearance of the conventional luminous keyboard device is substantially similar to the outer appearance of the conventional keyboard device 1. Since the luminous keyboard device provides the function of illuminating the keys, the inner structure of the luminous keyboard device is different from the inner structure of the keyboard device without the illuminating function. Hereinafter, the inner structure of the luminous keyboard device will be illustrated in more details. FIG. 2 is a schematic cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional luminous keyboard device. As shown in FIG. 2, the conventional luminous keyboard device 2 comprises plural keys 20, a membrane switch circuit member 21, a light guide plate 22, a backlight module 23, a supporting plate 24, a reflecting plate 25, and a base 26. Each key 20 comprises a keycap 201, a scissors-type connecting element 202 and an elastic element 203. From top to bottom, the keycap 201, the scissors-type connecting element 202, the elastic element 203, the membrane switch circuit member 21, the supporting plate 24, the light guide plate 22, the reflecting plate 25 and the base 26 of the conventional luminous keyboard device 2 are sequentially shown. The backlight module 23 is located at a side of the membrane switch circuit member 22. For example, the conventional luminous keyboard device 2 is a keyboard device of a notebook computer (not shown), and the base 26 is installed on the notebook computer.
In the key 20, the keycap 201 is exposed outside the conventional luminous keyboard device 2, so that the keycap 201 can be depressed by the user. The scissors-type connecting element 202 is used for connecting the keycap 201 and the supporting plate 24. The elastic element 203 is penetrated through the scissors-type connecting element 202. In addition, both ends of the elastic element 203 are contacted with the keycap 201 and the membrane switch circuit member 21, respectively. The membrane switch circuit module 21 comprises an upper wiring board 211, a spacer layer 212, and a lower wiring board 213. The upper wiring board 211, the spacer layer 212 and the lower wiring board 213 are all made of a light-transmissible material. The light-transmissible material is for example polycarbonate (PC) or polyethylene (PE). The upper wiring board 211 has plural upper contacts 2111. The spacer layer 212 is disposed under the upper wiring board 211, and comprises plural perforations 2121 corresponding to the plural upper contacts 2111. The lower wiring board 213 is disposed under the spacer layer 212, and comprises plural lower contacts 2131 corresponding to the plural upper contacts 2111. The plural lower contacts 2131 and the plural upper contacts 2111 are collectively defined as plural key switches 214.
The backlight module 23 comprises an illumination circuit board 231 and plural light-emitting elements 232. For clarification and brevity, only two light-emitting elements 232 are shown in the drawing. The illumination circuit board 231 is disposed under the membrane switch circuit member 21 for providing electric power to the plural light-emitting elements 232. The plural light-emitting elements 232 are disposed on the illumination circuit board 231, and respectively inserted into plural reflecting plate openings 251 of the reflecting plate 25 and plural light guide plate openings 221 of the light guide plate 22. By acquiring the electric power, the plural light-emitting elements 232 are driven to emit plural light beams B. Moreover, the plural light beams B are directed to the light guide plate 22. For example, the plural light-emitting elements 232 are side-view light-emitting diodes. The light guide plate 22 is used for guiding the plural light beams B to the keycaps 201. As shown in FIG. 2, the supporting plate 24 is arranged between the membrane switch circuit member 21 and the light guide plate 22 for supporting the keycap 201, the scissors-type connecting element 202, the elastic element 203 and the membrane switch circuit member 21. The reflecting plate 25 is disposed under the light guide plate 22 for reflecting the plural light beams B. Consequently, the plural light beams B are directed upwardly, and the utilization efficiency of the light beams B is enhanced. The two lateral edges 252 of the reflecting plate 25 are bent upwardly to enclose plural lateral edges 222 of the light guide plate 22. For clarification and brevity, only one lateral edge 252 of the reflecting plate 25 is shown in the drawing. Due to the lateral edges 252 of the reflecting plate 25, the problem of causing light leakage through the lateral edges 222 of the light guide plate 22 will be eliminated.
In the conventional luminous keyboard device 2, each keycap 201 has a light-outputting zone 2011. The light-outputting zone 2011 is located at a character region or a symbol region of the keycap 201. Moreover, the position of the light-outputting zone 2011 is aligned with a corresponding light-guiding dot 223 of the light guide plate 22. The light beam can be guided upwardly to the light-outputting zone 2011 through the corresponding light-guiding dot 223, thereby illuminating the character region or the symbol region of the keycap 201. Consequently, the illuminating function is achieved.
Please refer to FIG. 2 again. The base 26 comprises plural fixing protrusion posts 261. The plural fixing protrusion posts 261 are integrally formed with the base 26. Moreover, the light guide plate 22 further comprises plural first fixing holes 224 corresponding to the plural fixing protrusion posts 261, respectively. The reflecting plate 25 further comprises plural second fixing holes 253 corresponding to the plural first fixing holes 224, respectively. For installing the light guide plate 22 and the reflecting plate 25 on the base 26, the plural fixing protrusion posts 261 are sequentially penetrated through the corresponding second fixing holes 253 and the corresponding first fixing holes 224. Consequently, the light guide plate 22 and the reflecting plate 25 are fixed on the base 26.
FIG. 3 is a schematic top view illustrating the light guide plate of the conventional luminous keyboard device of FIG. 2. Since the light guide plate 22 has the plural first fixing holes 224, some drawbacks may occur. For example, when the plural light beams B are transferred through the light guide plate 22 and transmitted through the plural first fixing holes 224, plural shadow regions 27 are created at the positions near the plural first fixing holes 224. Due to the plural shadow regions 27, the keys 20 of the conventional luminous keyboard device 2 fail to be uniformly illuminated. In addition to the first fixing holes 224, the light guide plate 22 may further comprise other holes such as ventilation holes (not shown) or sound holes (not shown). Similarly, plural shadow regions 27 are created at the positions near the ventilation holes and the sound holes of the light guide plate 22.
Recently, the general trends in designing electronic devices are toward slimness. In other words, the conventional luminous keyboard device needs to meet the requirements of slimness. Consequently, a luminous keyboard device without a reflecting plate has been introduced into the market, wherein a reflective ink layer is coated on a bottom surface of the light guide plate to replace the reflecting plate. Since the thickness of the reflective ink layer is usually smaller than the thickness of the general reflecting plate, the overall thickness of the luminous keyboard device is reduced. However, since the lateral edge of the light guide plate is too thin, it is difficult to install the reflective ink layer on the lateral edge of the light guide plate. That is, the reflective ink layer can be disposed on the bottom surface of the light guide plate only. Under this circumstance, the light beam may be leaked out through the lateral edge of the light guide plate. Therefore, there is a need of providing a luminous keyboard device with slimness and capable of avoiding lateral light leakage.